


a little less sixteen candles, a little more touch me.

by legally_blonde



Series: Jukebox Love Story [8]
Category: That '70s Show
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legally_blonde/pseuds/legally_blonde
Summary: Jackie's just the girl all the boys want to dance with & Hyde is the boy who had too many chances.
Relationships: Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde
Series: Jukebox Love Story [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728451
Comments: 10
Kudos: 44





	a little less sixteen candles, a little more touch me.

**A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me**

* * *

_I confess, I messed up, dropping “I’m sorry” like you’re still around_

_& I know you’re dressed up, hey kid you’ll never live this down_

_You’re just the girl all the boys want to dance with_

_& I’m just the boy who’s had too many chances_

* * *

Steven Hyde may be many things, but one thing he was not was punctual. He ran on his own time and if someone had a problem with that, he’d tell them to get bent. However, this was a special situation he needed to handle delicately. He was supposed to show up early and help Jackie set up for the rehearsal dinner. Instead, he was a half hour late to the rehearsal dinner.

It wasn’t entirely his fault this time. He had gotten caught up in a meeting with W.B. and a few other big wigs about the future of the store. He didn’t realize the time until W.B. mentioned the rehearsal dinner, and then he ran out without a word. Jackie wanted him to do something with his life, so she should understand – right?

He knew he was in for it when he caught Jackie’s eye and she glared at him so hard that if he could have been set on fire, he’d be ash. He decided he didn’t want to ruin the night, so he avoided her until people started leaving.

“Jackie,” he said as he came up behind her as she was clearing some tables off. She ignored him, so he tried again and again until … “Beulah.”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, turning around to look at him. “I heard you the first thirty times you said my name. Take a hint, Hyde.”

“I’m sorry I was late,” he said and she scoffed. “I didn’t mean to be late. The store.”

“I don’t care,” she said, grabbing her purse from the chair. “Don’t be late to the wedding tomorrow. You’re supposed to be at the alter with Eric. You are _not_ ruining my entrance. This is probably my only chance to walk down an aisle at a wedding and you’re not taking anything else away from me.”

“Jackie,” he said with a sigh, but she didn’t stop walking. “Hey, where are you going?”

“I set up. You can clean, bye.”

* * *

The wedding went off without a hitch. Hyde set his watch early to make sure he wasn’t late. He didn’t want to face the wrath of Jackie again. As he stood up at the alter and watched Jackie walk down the aisle in her blue maid of honor dress, all he could keep thinking of was how much we wished he was standing where Eric was and that Jackie’s dress was white instead.

Hyde stood at the bar in the reception hall sipping on his beer while he watched the guests party and dance on the dance floor. Specifically, he watched Jackie dance with three different guys so far.

“Jackie is having a great time,” Kitty said as she walked up next to him with Red. “She looks lovely tonight.”

“Kitty, leave the boy alone. You can’t fix stupid,” Red grumbled.

“I’m just saying, she looks lovely. Steven can use that information how he will.”

“I know how she looks, Mrs. Forman,” Hyde sighed. “She always looks good. She knows that, we all know that.”

“She just better remember we’re working on the Corvette in the morning,” Red said as he handed Kitty a new drink.

“Corvette?” Hyde asked in confusion, remembering that Red had sold his.

“Jackie and Red have been working on this car they found and went half on,” Kitty said and by the looks of Red’s glare, she had said too much. “I mean, what a lovely wedding, huh.”

“It’s okay, Mrs. Forman,” Hyde said with a small laugh. “Glad she’s annoying someone else in the house.”

“Like I said, you can’t fix stupid,” Red said as he pulled Kitty away.

Hyde let out a sigh as he glanced back at the dance floor. Jackie was with a different guy this time, and he looked like he was getting a little more handsy than the others. He knew Jackie could fend for herself, he’s been on the receiving end of her shin kicks after all, but she looked extra uncomfortable.

He walked over to the pair and placed his hand on the guy’s shoulder to stop them dancing. Jackie looked up at him and he couldn’t fully read her face – she wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t mad either.

“Can I cut in?”

“I think we’re good,” the guy said but Jackie had let go of his hand and walked over to Hyde.

“Thanks for the dance, John,” she said with a forced smile as she grabbed Hyde’s wrist and pulled him over to the corner. “Don’t get the wrong idea here. He was about to get kicked if he felt me up again.”

“No wrong ideas here,” he said, placing his hand on her waist as a slow song started. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, looking down quickly before looking up at him. “Glad to see you didn’t clean up for the occasion.”

“Can’t tell if that’s actual sarcasm,” he said, squinting at her.

“The beard is starting to grow on me,” she said, grabbing his chin and shaking his head. “Not that what I say matters.”

“Everything you say matters to me,” he said seriously.

“I’m glad you showed up on time,” she said, changing the subject quickly. “That would have ruined everything if you didn’t.”

“Well, someone reamed me out last night about being late.”

“With good reason,” she said indignantly. “I set that entire room up by myself. I _almost_ broke a nail, Steven.”

“You called me Steven,” he said with a smile.

“That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes. But you’ve been calling me Hyde.”

“It’s less painful,” she whispered. “It’s easier to call you Hyde like everyone else does, like we never had anything special.”

“We were pretty special.”

“We wouldn’t have worked out in the end, obviously. You just sped things up by marrying a stripper,” Jackie said with a small shake of her head. “You’re just so _you_.”

“Yeah, and you’re you,” he said. “You’re no prize to be around either, princess.”

“I’ve been working on that,” she said with a pout.

“Why?”

“Being me isn’t working to my benefit anymore,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t want to get into this, Steven.”

“Jackie, don’t let the stupid mistakes I made change who you are. You’re wonderful, and amazing, and I should have told you all this while we were dating but I was stupid. I had too many chances with you and I wasted them all, so if this is my final chance, then I’m not wasting it again.”

“Steven, where is all this coming from?”

“I watched you dance with all those guys tonight. I learned from Red that you’ve been at the house working on a car with him. Kelso was telling me how you visit Betsy all the time. I don’t know your life anymore, and it hit me how much I missed knowing.”

“You lost those privileges a while ago,” she said, stepping away from him. “I can’t do this right now, Steven. I don’t know how much you drank or smoke, I don’t know if you just think I’m an easy lay because I’m obviously the prettiest girl in here, but I can’t do this.”

“Jackie, it’s not like that.”

“I have to help Donna,” she said, running off and leaving Hyde alone on the dance floor.

“Shit.”

* * *

“Mr. Forman, I made sure to put on my ugly dirty clothes for today to go under the car,” Jackie rambled as her and Red walked up the garage. “I think once we fix that _thing_ it’ll stop the noise.”

“Yes, but those parts aren’t coming in until next week so the noise stays for now.”

“I was thinking for the interior,” Jackie started to say and stopped when she saw Hyde. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hoping to run into you, made sure to get here early so I didn’t miss you,” he said uncomfortably. “I can, uh, come back?”

“Get this over with now,” Red said, shaking his head at the two idiot lovebirds.

“Mr. Forman and I have a lot to do before I have to go to class.”

“To class?”

“I enrolled in some college classes, no big deal,” she said with a small shrug. “I can’t keep sweeping up hair at Fez’s salon.”

“I didn’t drink, I didn’t smoke, I don’t think you’re an easy lay. You’re the furthest thing from an easy lay, actually.” 

“Get on with it, Hyde.”

“I want you to call me Steven again. I want you to know that I’m not doing this under any influence other than the fact that I pulled my head out of my ass and realized I fucked up the greatest thing in my life. I don’t expect you to get back with me, Jackie. I just miss you, and I want to be part of your life again, in any way that you will have me. If you’ll have me.”

“I don’t know,” she said cautiously. “I don’t know if I can be friends with you.”

“Can we try? Please?”

“Okay,” she said after the longest span of silence. “You can start by grabbing a Fatso burger for me and Mr. Forman. We split one because he’s old and I need to keep my figure. Don’t let Mrs. Forman catch you.”

“Okay,” he said with a smile as he headed out of the garage and saw Red standing by the kitchen doors, impatiently waiting. “All yours, Mr. Forman.”

Red smiled as he saw how happy Hyde looked for the first time in years, before putting his signature scowl back on to walk into the garage. He saw a similar glow on Jackie when he walked in. _Maybe you can fix stupid_ , he thought.

* * *

_I don’t blame you for being you, but you can’t blame me for hating it_

_So say, what are you waiting for?_

_Kiss her, kiss her_

_I set my clocks early ‘cause I know I’m always late_

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all, happy Friday! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have the next chapter after this for next week written & done - I think some of you will be excited for that one. I have the 10th chapter in the works. I'm hoping to have that one day so I can keep up with regular updates. I never expected to get to 10 chapters on this, so thank you for the continued support :)


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